Microsoft Hits New York Fashion Week With Twitter Dress at Bloomingdale’s

Why is Microsoft at New York Fashion Week? It’s on a digital date with Bloomingdale’s, which has been getting increasingly interactive with its window displays to not only promote brands such as BMW, but even allowing passersby to stop and “try on” sunglasses or customize Havaianas flip-flops.

The intersection of fashion, retail and digital technology was highlighted in a co-branded Fashion’s Night Out event Thursday night, where Microsoft and Bloomies invited #FNO-savvy fashionistas on Twitter to tag #MSBloomingdales to see their tags show up on the “Printing Dress” — a wearable computing concept (at left) that replaces pleats with tweets.

“a Microsoft Research project that explores the intersection of fashion and technology. This early prototype is an artistic installation that integrates computer components into a dress made almost entirely of paper. With an integrated projector, the dress showcases tweets in real time transforming the skirt into a real-time twitter display. The dress was presented and honored as “Best in Show” and “Best Concept” at the Design Exhibition at ISWC (International Symposium of Wearable Computers) in San Francisco 2011.”